1750 in Great Britain

Events

17 January – John Canton reads a paper in the presence of the Royal Society of London on a method of making artificial magnets.^[2]
8 February – an earthquake is felt in London.^[3]
8 March – a second more powerful earthquake is felt in London.^[3]
20 March – Samuel Johnson begins publication of the periodical The Rambler.^[2]
11 April – Jack Slack (a butcher of Norwich) defeats Jack Broughton to become bare-knuckle boxing Champion of England
24 June – Iron Act, passed by Parliament, comes into effect, restricting manufacture of iron products in the American colonies.^[2]
5 October – Treaty of Madrid, a commercial treaty with Spain, is signed.^[4]
18 November – Westminster Bridge is officially opened for the general public to use,^[5] the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Putney.

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Births

24 January – Helen Gloag, Scottish-born slave Empress of Morocco (died 1790)
18 February – David Bogue, nonconformist leader (died 1825)
April – Joanna Southcott, religious fanatic (died 1814)
2 May – John André, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War (died 1780)
6 June – William Morgan, actuary (died 1833)
13 June – James Burney, admiral (died 1821)
26 September – Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, admiral (died 1810)

Deaths

7 February – Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, aristocrat (born 1684)
8 February – Aaron Hill, dramatist (born 1685)
29 March – James Jurin, physician and mathematician (born 1684)
7 April – George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington, general (born 1701)
28 July – Conyers Middleton, religious controversialist and classical scholar (born 1683)
8 August – Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, aristocrat, philanthropist and cricket patron (born 1701)
3 October – 'Captain' James MacLaine (or Maclean), gentleman highwayman (born 1724) (hanged at Tyburn)
13 December – Philemon Ewer, shipbuilder (born 1702)

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Incumbents